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ADDITION
Some people need to regular small meals to avoid hunger and binging, whereas some people prefer only to have 1-2 meals in a small window of time (e.g. between 9am-3pm). What works for you is UNIQUE. So, don’t feel guilty or pressured that you “must do it this way”.
Transcript
ADDITION:
Some people need to regular small meals to avoid hunger and binging, whereas some people prefer only to have 1-2 meals in a small window of time (e.g. between 9am-3pm). What works for you is UNIQUE. So, don’t feel guilty or pressured that you “must do it this way”.
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One experience you do not want to have whilst returning to a healthy weight is feeling hungry all the time. This is unpleasant but definitely increases your chances of running out of willpower and then overeating later and putting the weight back on.
So there are two major points to discuss here.
The first point is – what foods make you feel more full and satisfied? Hence reducing your need for snacks. The answer is foods high in protein and fibre. I covered this in detail in the video ‘Nutrition 102’ but to quickly review = there are animal and plant sources of protein ranging from meat to nuts, legumes, peas and beans. High fibre foods include whole plant-based foods like vegetables, fruits, legumes, peas and beans. Hence other foods like refined carbohydrates and sugar do not make you feel full. You may have noticed this in your own life. Having some highly refined cereal in the morning or toast and then one hour later feeling hungry again. So have meals that are high in whole foods full of fibre and moderate amounts of protein. One study in 2018 that compared the effects of plant protein or meat in making you feel full and hunger and it showed there was no difference between the two.
You don’t need to measure this exactly though so don’t stress about. You will notice looking at the resource after Nutrition 102 that some foods are high in both fibre and protein – so if you just eat those whole foods you won’t have to “count the fibre and protein”. For example, if you were to have a plate of vegetables and a protein source like nuts, seeds, legumes or fish – then you will have lots of fibre and protein and will feel full.
Also, foods that are high in volume and low in calories, like whole unprocessed foods like vegetables and legumes, can also make you feel more full simply because they take up more of your stomach and stretch it.
The second point is – my experience is that your hunger changes with time. To keep it simple there are two types of hunger. Genuine hunger are signals from your brain to your stomach and other parts of your body that are designed to keep you seeking and processing food that is necessary for life. Then there is the much more common type of hunger which I call “conditioned hunger”. This is hunger as a result of habits. If your body is used to eating at a certain time then you will feel hungry at that time. If you eat breakfast every day and don’t eat breakfast one day, you will feel hungry and your stomach will rumble, you might get a bit cranky and so on. But if you wait 20-30 minutes this will pass because you are going to survive just fine. So it is important to be aware that not all pangs of hunger are equal. Over time this conditioned hunger can change and go away when your food patterns change.
In regards to snacks = you do not NEED to have snacks. If you eat meals that keep you full, and over a period of time when you get used to eating an amount that your body naturally needs rather than wants, you will find you don’t really need snacks.
References:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924224414002386